HSBC India bets big on country's fast-growing private banking business

Largely, foreign banks in India cater to wealthy and HNI clients.

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) is aiming to boost its private and wealth banking service in India, said Hitendra Dave, chief executive officer and managing director (CEO and MD) of the lender’s India arm. The bank, after exiting the private banking business in 2015, reintroduced the business in July 2023. Dave, in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, said that the bank aims to boost its offerings and target wealthy, affluent and high net-worth individuals (HNIs) in India.

“We aim to become a proper, full-service global private bank that could offer the customers first-class, top-of-the-line services in the country,” Dave said.

Dave highlighted that the bank has received good response in the little time since the reintroduction of private banking in India.

Also read: HSBC India CEO On His Journey & Why The Bank Bets Big On India’s Affluent Customer Segment

“In three months' time, the kind of goodwill we have received, the kind of incoming messages we have received, the kind of reception we get every time we highlight to these super-affluent millionaires and billionaires, I think we just think that we have taken the right decision. Of course, time will tell,” Dave said.

Foreign banks in India

According to the Department of Financial Services (DFS), India has a total of 45 foreign banks. Some of these operate under a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) model while others have partnerships or co-working models with Indian counterparts.

Largely, foreign banks in India cater to wealthy and HNI clients. Here, HSBC India’s Dave said that the bank aims to target only wealthy families in the country for its private banking proposition.

“We don't intend this to be a mass-market product. This is by invitation only. This is in every city we operate, maybe 200 families, 250 families from each city, you multiply that by the number of cities we will have,” Dave said.

Also read: HSBC returns to private banking in India to tap growing wealth

HSBC’s India story

For 2022, (the bank follows a January-December financial year) the bank reported a 15 percent jump in its pre-tax profit. Its profit stood at $1.27 billion for 2022 versus $1.11 billion from its operations in India in 2021.

In February 2023, the lender said in a statement that it was now the largest foreign bank in India by advances as well as deposits. Additionally, it said that was the largest and sole international group offering a full range of financial services, including banking, asset management, insurance and securities.